“Come here,” Elijah said, opening his arms wide for me.
“It’s going to be so quiet around our house now.”
“Not for long, Freckles.”
THE DAY AFTER WE GOTback from San Francisco, Maegan’s gynecologist called to say they had a cancellation and asked if Maegan wanted the appointment. They advised her to drink a lot of water because they’d be performing an ultrasound to check out her ovaries. Of course, I wanted to be with her in case they told her less than exciting news. I’d seen plenty of ultrasounds on television shows, so I was prepared for them to squirt the lube on her belly and move the device around. Easy peasy. Then the technician rolled a condom on this wand-like probe and squirted lube on it.
“This might be a little uncomfortable with having a full bladder. Are you ready, Ms. Miracle?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she said.
Instead of rubbing the wand over her stomach, the ultrasound tech raised the paper blanket draped over Maegan’s legs and…Whoa, Nelly!
“That’s it?” I asked out loud. “The wand isn’t going to introduce himself first or at least take her to dinner?”
Maegan and the technician started giggling. Then Maegan let out a tiny yelp. “No more funny-guy routine. I have to go to the bathroom so bad.”
“Not much longer,” the tech said. “I’m sorry for the discomfort.”
I was sitting up by Maegan’s head and couldn’t really see the action down below, but I could see the tech moving her left arm around while typing things onto her equipment with her right. Maegan squeezed my hand, letting me know she wasn’t having a good time. I felt violated for her.
“A few more pictures and I will let you go to the bathroom,” she said and offered a sweet smile to Maegan. “You’re doing great.”
I dropped an encouraging kiss on her forehead which seemed to help relax her. Once the technician was done, Maegan was allowed to use the restroom.
“When will she have the results?” I asked.
“As soon as Dr. Stephens finishes with her current patient and can look at them. She shouldn’t be too long.”
“Oh, that’s great news.”
When Maegan returned, she got dressed and sat on the exam table, staring off like she was a thousand miles away.
“I learned quite a bit from the pamphlets of information they have out in reception. Did you know in some IVF processes they pick out the best eggs and sperm and guide the sperm into the egg? They don’t let him choose his own egg.”
“He’d probably choose based on looks alone,” Mae said. “We don’t need the prettiest egg; we need the one most likely to become a baby.”
“My swimmers are outraged you think so little of them and are shocked at the self-hate directed at the eggs you’re producing. You couldn’t produce a bad egg if you tried.”
“Hopefully, Dr. Stephens will tell us everything looks good and IVF isn’t something we have to worry about right now. It’s an amazing process, but so damn expensive.”
“I read that too. We’d find a way to make it happen. I’ll dip into my retirement account if it’s what it takes.”
Maegan sucked in a shaky breath. “You’d do that for me?”
“I’d do it for us,” I told her.
“I love you, Pooh Bear.”
“I love you too, Freckles.”
“I think I have a better solution should the need arise,” Maegan said. “The deed and mortgage for Bliss House are only in my name. I want to refinance the mortgage once we get married so we both own Bliss House. I know there’s a lot of equity in the house, and we could borrow against it for a procedure if we need it.”
There was a swift knock on the door then an African American woman with a warm smile entered the room. “Hello, Maegan. How are you?”
“I’m doing good. This is my fiancé, Elijah Markham.”
Dr. Stephens shook my hand then looked at Maegan once more. “It looks to me like you’re doing excellent,” she said then sat in the chair. “I have the blood test results your oncologist sent over and reviewed the ultrasound images. The good news is the timing worked out perfectly to have an ultrasound because you haven’t started ovulating for the next cycle, which gives us a better idea what’s going on in your body. There’s no sign of endometrial issues in your uterus or fallopian tubes, nor do I see any cysts on your ovaries. What I do see are eighteen follicles between the two ovaries, which indicates you have great ovarian reserve.” It was like she was speaking a foreign language, but her happy smile said she delivered good news to us.
